LGBT Fiction and Memoirs for a Course

This file contains suggestions for novels, short-story collections, andmemoirs for use in an LGBT-themed junior/senior level course. The suggestions were offered on WMST-L in April 2008. For more WMST-L filesavailable on the Web, see the WMST-L File Collection.

Please, if anyone has suggestions, novels, short-story collections, ormemoirs for each of the following for use in an LGBT-themedjunior-senior level course:LesbianGay MaleTransBisexualI know many of the quick-to-come-to-mind titles but would appreciatehearing about what has worked (or not worked) in your classes and/orsuggestions that I might not have come across before I send the textorder to bookstore in a couple of weeks.Thank you.Milton Wendlandmilton AT ku.edu

Are you looking for YA novels? Try Christine Jenkins and MichaelCart's The Heart Has its Reasons for annotated young adult novels. Ihave used Girl Walking Backwards that worked well. I can send youother suggestions, but I'm not sure, again, if you want adolescentcharacters or "adult" characters.Best,Deborah Brothers

Jeanette Winterson's Oranges are Not the Only Fruit teaches very well. Best, Jeana DelRossoDr. Jeana DelRossoChair, Department of EnglishAssociate Professor of English and Women's StudiesCollege of Notre Dame of Maryland4701 N. Charles StreetBaltimore, MD 21210jdelrosso AT ndm.edu

I'm currently using Two Truths and a Lie: A memoir written & performed byScott Turner Schofield (ISBN 978-0-9785973-2-0) in my Intro to Lit classes.It's a collection of three solo plays that explore gender, sex, sexuality.Scott Turner Schofield is a fabulous performer and powerful speaker whotours his shows to colleges, theaters and festivals-- a great opportunity toread the book and experience the performance too! I've had overwhelminglypositive experiences teaching material from his performances and am excitedto now have the book. I recommend enthusiastically.Elizabeth WilsonAdjunct InstructorASU English Dept.

Hello, Recent History, by Anthony Giardina, is a good one. A nuancedtreatement of masculinity and sexuality - the main characterstruggles to come to terms with his dad's relationship with aman, and his own emerging (bi)sexuality, in the context ofthe 1960's. What's really good about the novel, among otherthings, is the way Giardina explores the psychologicalcomplexity of the main character's internalized heteronormativity. john-- John LandreauWomen's and Gender StudiesThe College of New Jersey

Hi Milton,For some perhaps less familiar texts, I would recommend:Erika Lopez *Flaming Iguanas: An Illustrated All-Girl Road NovelThing* (please note that I've not taught this one, but my friendMary has, with success)Felicia Luna Lemus *Like Son* (novel, FtM)Doug Wright *I Am My Own Wife* (play based on the true story ofan East German transwoman who lived from 1928-2002)Allison Bechdel *Fun Home* (graphic novelized autobiography)Anything by Sarah Waters is great, of course, as is anything byJeanette Winterson. Winterson's *Written on the Body* (novel inwhich the narrator's gender is never identified) and *ThePassion* are both lovely narratives dealing with the materialityof sexual identity.Best,JeannieJeannie Ludlow, Ph.D., Undergraduate CoordinatorWomen's Studies Programjludlow AT bgnet.bgsu.edu

I'm using a new (2007) memoir, What Becomes You, by Aaron Raz Link and HildaRaz (mother and transsexual son), in my Feminist Memoirs course thisquarter. Response from students and discussion has been really great so far.Here is a description: What Becomes You is the story of Aaron's transformation from female into hisnew identity as a gay man. A finalist for the Lambda Book award, thisextraordinary memoir explores women's experience and men's lives, the artand science of changing sex, uncharted family values, and a worldtransformed by surgery, hormones, love, and clown school. Aaron Raz Link is the director of the Museum of Nature in Portland, Oregon.Hilda Raz, a professor of English and women's and gender studies at theUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln, is the Glenna Luschei Endowed Editor ofPrairie Schooner and author of the poetry collections, Trans and DivineHonors.Kelli ZaytounKelli Zaytoun, Ph.D.Director, Women's StudiesAsst. Professor, EnglishWright State Universitykelli.zaytoun AT wright.edu

In response to my query for LGBT novels, memoirs, etc I received thefollowing replies so far. Some of you asked for me to compile andpost to the list so here they are. (Please, continue to send me ideas-- these are all great - some I knew, some are new to me!)What Becomes You by Aaron Raz Link and Hilda Raz (mother andtranssexual son) (2007) memoir -- What Becomes You is the story ofAaron's transformation from female into his new identity as a gayman. A finalist for the Lambda Book award, this extraordinary memoirexplores women's experience and men's lives, the art and science ofchanging sex, uncharted family values, and a world transformed bysurgery, hormones, love, and clown school.Beyond All Desiring by Judith Lauramore info on http://www.judithlaura.com/beyond.htmlBody, Remember by Kenny Fries. Memoir in which he explores hisidentity as disabled, gay, and Jewish. He's also a greatvisitor/speaker if you're interested.Exile and Pride, by Eli Clare. Hard-to-classify mixed-genrememoir/essay/cultural history. Clare identifies as mixed class,queer, disabled, rural. The book deals with the intersection ofidentities within Clare and each of us.The Me in the Mirror, by Connie Panzarino. Autobiography of a womandisabled from birth. How she becomes a disability activist, then afeminist, then a lesbian.Erika Lopez *Flaming Iguanas: An Illustrated All-Girl Road Novel Thing* Felicia Luna Lemus *Like Son* (novel, FtM)Doug Wright *I Am My Own Wife* (play based on the true story of anEast German transwoman who lived from 1928-2002)Allison Bechdel *Fun Home* (graphic novelized autobiography)Anything by Sarah WatersAnything by Jeanette Winterson -- Oranges are Not the Only Fruit --*Written on the Body* (novel in which the narrator's gender is neveridentified) and *The Passion* are both lovely narratives dealing withthe materiality of sexual identity.Olivia by Olivia (recently rereleased by Cleis Press) -- wonderfulsmall novel about a young woman studying at a girls school in Francelead by two lesbians. Olivia is actually one of the women in theBloomsbury group and it is rumored that she fictionalized EleanorRoosevelt as one of the characters in the novel -- delightful latemodern novel (published in 1952)Recent History, by Anthony Giardina -- nuanced treatment ofmasculinity and sexuality - the main character struggles to come toterms with his dad's relationship with a man, and his own emerging(bi)sexuality, in the context of the 1960's. What's really good aboutthe novel, among other things, is the way Giardina explores thepsychological complexity of the main character'sinternalizedheteronormativity.Ruby Fruit Jungle. Rita Mae BrownB-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy. He has written now a series of booksthat are all a delight and very accessible and look at issues in blackgay male life.Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons by Marilyn Hacker(sonnets). Very fun and profound and would be meaningful to juniors.Stir Fry by Emma Donoghue (Coming of age novel)Two Truths and a Lie: A memoir written & performed by Scott TurnerSchofield (collection of three solo plays that explore gender, sex,sexuality. Schofield is a fabulous performer and powerful speaker whotours his shows to colleges, theaters and festivals-a greatopportunity to read the book and experience the performance too)Price of Salt (Lesbian)Middlesex (intersexed)TransgenderWarriorsRadclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness Djuna Barnes, Ladies Almanack (some students find it difficult, but if they get into it they love it)Virginia Woolf, OrlandoJames Baldwin, Giovanni's RoomLeslie Feinberg, Stone Butch BluesAchy Obejas, Memory MamboLillian Faderman's "Naked in the Promised Land: A Memoir"Christine Jenkins and Michael Cart's The Heart Has its Reasons(annotated young adult novel)Girl Walking Backwards"Man in the Middle" by John Amaechi (The overall story is less aboutgay identity -- which to some is one of its strengths -- and moreabout his life in general, both before and after being in theNBA. There is a short passage where he talks about the men's lockerroom as one of the gayest places he's ever been in.)Milton W Wendland, M.A., J.D.Attorney at Law (New York, Florida, & Dist of Columbia)Doctoral Student, Program in American Studies & GTA, Dept of Women Gender & Sexuality StudiesThe University of Kansas, Lawrence